Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! I am a UK volunteer with voluntary service overseas and I'll be living in Rwanda in a small town called Nzige. Nzige is in Rwamagana district to the east of the country towards Tanzania.I'll be going out to Rwanda as an education volunteer to work on UNICEF's child friendly schools campaign. by teaching in a teacher training college and setting up a resource centre.

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

The miraculous day at work

Ok so I know that ever since I’ve started this job I’ve been constantly harping on about the challenges, bit like a broken record really, so for once I’d like to share some work related joy. Today absolutely everything went right (well apart from having to tell a kid off for drawing on his book with marker pen, but thats insignificant in the grand scheme of things). In fact I swear more things have gone right today than in the whole previous term and a half. This is after cracking a mirror at the weekend which is supposed to lead to 7 years of bad luck, so its even more amazing.

Miracle 1: When I arrived at school I went into the computer room and the internet worked, oh ye of little faith.

Miracle 2: I went to the principal’s office and he was there.

Miracle 3: Further to this he said that the carpenter had received his cheque for the furniture advance from vso without me having to chase it again.

Miracle 4: There were two more tables waiting for me for my resource room so I had more places to put things. By now I’m reaching cloud 9.

Miracle 5: Groups of students came in to look at my newly re-arranged resource centre. They were so sweet. I have now got a rug in the corner and they took their shoes off to stand on it and play with all the newly organised resources. They were genuinely enthralled by all the models and maps and things to play with. One student said (in spite of the new super duper internet connected computer room next door) that ‘this room is more special in our school than all the others’. Bless her, every time I feel that none of them give two hoots about resource making or child centred methodology I will remember this one comment. It was just such an uplifting moment.

Well I’m off to have a celebratory fake laughing cow toasted cheese sandwich. I worry about what vast quantities of Egyptian fake laughing cow is doing to my insides. It doesn’t require a fridge, just like the margarine here. And the mayonnaise keeps for months without a fridge...there is something just not right about these foods. They have a bizarre consistency for starters, and a waxy taste, and the margarine never seems to melt...odd...

I have no bookcases or cupboards or anything yet so I've started to peg things up on long strings.

I've put a rug in the corner to use as a space for resource making and to make it feel a bit more homely. All the tutors are confused by why I would want to do this!

We have a model making table and the other new table now had boxes of resource making materials such as craft knives, scissors and marker pens (all transported in my backpack on the back of a moto).